


CCCLXVI.

by SevlinRipley



Category: The Faculty (1998)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Post-Canon, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-27
Updated: 2014-03-27
Packaged: 2018-01-17 06:45:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1377748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SevlinRipley/pseuds/SevlinRipley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As attention dwindles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	CCCLXVI.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aliensouldream](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=aliensouldream).



After, it became as if nothing had transpired between them. As though they had not been each other's very last hopes. Zeke was speechless, hardly looked Casey in the eyes as they passed one another in the halls of the school. They two, were one of the few who did not speak after what had happened. In a way, Marybeth's presence had brought everyone together. Made them feel a similarity between themselves that once would have never been discovered, or ignored. There was no denying, now. Each of them had been touched.

Delilah's arm came over his shoulders, and she leaned into him heavily as they continued walking toward the Dark Room. "You okay?" she asked, perplexed, as Casey remained silent at her arrival. His lips parted, and then he swallowed the dryness of his mouth away before choosing to nod instead. His eyes finally turned to meet hers, and her answering smile was confused, but accepting. They never _really_ talked. It was not offensive to keep quiet about inner turmoil. It was expected, despite their exchanged questions, and looks, done for the sake of being courteous. So long as they offered to listen to each other, no one could say they weren't there for one another.

For Casey, it was easier to remain silent anyway. Not for the same reason, as Delilah, who had little time to be bothered with trivial life problems - if the apocalypse shows up again, then let her know. For him, it was the fact that voicing his insecurities made them more real. All his life he had been trained to suppress. Whether by his father, or by himself. And until the time when he had no other choice but to rely on others, he had held fast to that strategy. Sure, his body would still ache after he'd been bullied, but when they'd call him a cry baby for screaming out in pain, if and when he did, at least he never showed, or voiced the 'tears' to validate the accusation. Any human would make involuntary sounds at unexpected amounts of pain. Who knew that, if their places were switched, his own bullies would not cry after the fact.

"They've stopped calling my house," Delilah said, with a heavy underlying note. It came out from her lungs, as though she were pushing it. But she tried to make it sound light.

Even so, he knew it would be dangerous to shrug her words off and, instead, said, "I know. Mine too." Where her tone of lightness was faked, his heaviness was. It had been exhilarating at first, still riding the high from having actually survived. From conquering. _Him_. Of all people. It quickly lost its shine, however.

Especially after he started to notice the looks Zeke would give him. Where, initially, there had been sneaking smiles in passing, there were now darkened eyes, furrowed brows, thinned lips. Casey had begun faltering in his interviews at the looks. Mis-stepping. He felt a twinge of guilt, realizing that he had probably accidentally convinced the interviewers that he was lying. Or perhaps, had turned the tone into something less exciting, and had shut off his audiences. Delilah would never forgive him if that were true. Before she was even petitioned for a _real_ job, somewhere that would reimburse part of her costs in school, before allowing her to work for them. A name with a meaning, with a reason.

Frowning in turn, Delilah's arm loosened, and then fell to her side as Casey turned into the room, her shoes clicking after him. "I still have the story at The Daily, but... I haven't set up a meeting yet, to turn it into a series."

Casey's own mouth turned down, and he tried to keep his tone cool, supportive, even as he said, "You know, that was never a sure thing... They'd be lucky to have a series from you, of course." She heard the 'but' in his voice, and pursed her lips, looking down at the tables covered in bins half-filled with fluid. "I'm sure if you do meet with the editor, though, you'll convince them. It'll be okay, Del."

She made a soft sound under her breath, and then shrugged, her bag nearly falling from her shoulder. He watched her carefully for a moment, before looking down, embarrassed that he couldn't even speak to his girlfriend without making her disappointed. Even as he desperately tried not to.

"See ya, Case," she mumbled, as she turned back toward the door, and let it fall closed, to darkness, behind her. Casey heaved a sigh.

 

Casey was finished processing, and hanging up his new pictures. An over-abundance of students sitting, quieter than normal, in the aftermath. For all that everyone felt connected, now, Casey noticed a severe lack in brightly lit eyes, in smiles that lasted longer than a mere moment, and in people feeling close, physically, to those around them. Best friends were no longer. Everyone was singular within the crowd. No one had changed more than Zeke. Or perhaps it was Casey's mind playing tricks on him.

Though no one's happiness was more faked than Zeke's prior to the 'event' - Casey hardly recognized the person who wore Zeke's skin these days. He hadn't been aware of the amount of layers considered in the act of 'faking it'. It was as if Zeke had gone from self-appointed body guard, to a self-encased, shatter-proof, bullet-proof set of walls around his emotions. Not only was he impossible to read, but even in his happiest moments, his proudest times - Casey almost believed him. Did believe him. But for the cracks in his own facade which leaked a poison that perhaps Casey only _projected_ onto his former comrade. Whether Zeke was truly happy, transformed, or not, Casey couldn't quite wrap his hands around the idea. It refused to sit well with him, even as Zeke smiled, bright, and sturdy, as his team mates clapped him heavily on the back, beaming at him with the pride he deserved.

Casey _wished_ Zeke was as happy as he looked. What it would take to actually get Zeke there, he couldn't possibly fathom.

**Author's Note:**

> There may or may not be more chapters added to this story. Subscribe if you'd like to be notified if I update this story :)


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